What did 27 March 2023 mean for Ukraine and NATO?
A missile strike on Sloviansk and a parliamentary vote in Budapest marked a day of contrasting news in Europe.
What did the events of 27 March 2023 tell Europe about the war and the alliance around it? Looking back from the vantage of 28 March 2023, the day brought one grim report and one diplomatic step forward.
In Donetsk Oblast, a Russian missile strike on Sloviansk killed at least two civilians and injured 29 others. It was one more attack on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The same day, the National Assembly of Hungary voted 182–6 to approve Finland's accession to NATO. That left Turkey as the only NATO member yet to approve Finland's membership in the military alliance.
Taken together, the two reports showed a war that continued to claim civilian lives while the alliance moved closer to completing Finland's entry. Only one national approval, Turkey's, remained.
